L’animal-amphitryon : archéologie de l’ectoparasitisme

External parasites, or ectoparasites, share a long co-evolutionary history with their hosts. Buried in sediments or still attached to the fur of some mummified animals, some of them have been preserved up to our days. Their study, forming part both of archaeoentomology and archaeoparasitology disciplines, provides relevant information about the origin and spread of these parasitic insects and arachnids as well as on the key role they have played in the transmission of microbial pathogens.